Folding systems are generally used for folding and stacking products such as napkins, towels and/or other paper or fabric products. For example, one method for producing a folded product includes longitudinally folding a web by passing the web through or over a plow or similar V-shaped plate. The web is then passed through a series of rollers and transversely cut into discrete segments. Thereafter, through the use of a set of folding rollers, an intermediate portion of the web segment is gripped, generally by vacuum, and drawn between the folding rollers, thereby causing the web to fold on itself transversely. The web segment may also be transferred through additional sets of folding rollers to perform additional transverse folding operations. The web products are thereafter horizontally or vertically stacked with other web products.
To increase efficiency, a double-wide parent roll may also be used to produce two folded web products simultaneously. For example, the double-wide parent roll may be slit longitudinally into web halves and each web half simultaneously processed using a duplicate series of rollers to produce a pair of folded web products. The pair of folded web products may then be superposed and stacked with other superposed pairs of folded web products. The stacks of folded web products may then be delivered into a magazine for subsequent packaging.
Prior fabric folding systems and methods suffer several disadvantages. For example, prior systems generally do not readily accommodate producing a folded web product having a particular length and width from various sizes of web material. Additional folding operations are generally required to reduce the length and/or width of the web material to produce the particular size web product. Thus, additional folding and/or cutting rollers are generally required, thereby increasing the cost, complexity and size of the folding system.
Additionally, prior systems generally require repeated transfer of the web segments between sets of folding rollers to perform additional complex folding operations. For example, the web segments are generally transversely folded using one set of folding rollers and transferred to additional sets of folding rollers to perform additional transverse folding operations. Thus, misfeed of the web segments may result each time the web segment is transferred between sets of folding rollers, especially during high speed folding operations, thereby causing a cessation in system operation.
Further, prior systems do not readily accommodate individual packaging of a web product or pair of web products. For example, prior systems generally produce vertical or horizontal stacks of folded web products. The stacks are then subsequently divided into smaller stacks of a specified count for subsequent handling and packaging.